CompuServe Messages

Pat, I'm not really an expert on vehicle accident animations — I may be starting my first one soon. The amount of detail required for forensic animation is generally much, much less than what most real animators like to see. After you work with 3DS for a while, it is very difficult to resist the desire to use all its wonderous features and resources to make EVERYTHING as photorealistic as possible. But the truth is that in court, no one cares about all your high-res reflections, textures, and lens flare; in fact realistic detail can actually work against getting an animation admitted in court if the animation becomes more "dramatic" than illustrative. The level of detail you need with forensic animation is simply the minimun amount (or degree) needed to accurately and clearly demonstrate the facts. Keeping file size down is a difficult problem. I have trouble with large files myself. I use many techniques to reduce file size but none work very significantly. Good luck. Alec Jason